Taiwanese artists are set to light up France with music next year when they embark on a mission to promote Taiwanese music at Marche International du Disque et de l’Edition Musicale (MIDEM), a music trade fair in France that is billed as the world’s largest.
Pop diva A-Lin (黃麗玲), singer-songwriter Xiaoyu (小宇), pop-rock singer Shin (信) and the a cappella singing group O-Kai Singers (歐開合唱團) will perform their popular hits at a Taiwan Night concert in Paris on Jan. 30, GCA Entertainment Co said.
They are to perform at a similar concert at the music fair in Cannes on Feb. 1, the company said, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture to organize the concerts.
The Taiwan Night concerts are part of the government’s efforts to promote Taiwanese music at MIDEM, which attracts thousands of musicians, producers and managers each year.
Wang Hsi-chuan, co-producer of the O-Kai Singers’ award-winning debut album, said the group would prepare a program of a cappella music, traditional Aboriginal tunes and French folk songs.
The O-Kai Singers won the prestigious Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards in the US earlier this year for their album O-Kai A Cappella.
Shin, known for his wide vocal range, said he hoped to interact with musicians from different countries in France and to arouse their interest in Taiwan.
“That is what we as musicians can do,” he said.
Chang Chung-jen (張崇仁), head of the ministry’s Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, called MIDEM “the best venue” for introducing Taiwanese musicians to the world.
The organizer of MIDEM won the Taiwan-France Cultural Award this year, he said.
It is the 19th year for Taiwan to participate in the annual trade fair, which will take place from Feb. 1 to Feb. 4. In addition to setting up exhibition booths, the government has been sending Taiwanese entertainers to give live performances at the fair in recent years.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
RSS